Sunday, September 9, 2018

Music is back in Mosul, as are books and paintings. With the "Islamic
State" (IS) group gone, locals are enjoying their new-found freedom and
embracing culture. Will it last?
Judit Neurink reports from Mosul.

With neighboring Iran diverting rivers and building dams, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is in the midst of an already severe water crisis that threatens to get even worse, thanks to national and regional governments failing to acknowledge the urgency of the problem.

Iraqi youngsters are doing time for their roles in the "Islamic State"
terror group. Some will leave jail even more radicalized. As one of the
first foreign journalists, Judit Neurink visited Irbil's juvenile
prison.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Poverty and a lack of services
are preventing rebuilding in Mosul, forcing thousands to choose the
lesser of two evils and return to the camps. Over 2 million have yet to
go back home. Judit Neurink reports from Mosul.

The dust seems to be settling somewhat over
Iraq's Kurdistan Region, but fallout from the discord among Kurds, and
with the central government, could still be considerable come election
time.

Thousands of demonstrators protested for months, and hundreds of civil servants have been on strike in several cities over delayed and reduced pay. Teachers and health care workers in Sulaimaniyah agreed this week to end or suspend
their strikes after meeting with administrators, though details about
the financial situation apparently have yet to be worked out. Those
workers also voiced their anger because what money Baghdad had provided
was being doled out among all of Kurdistan’s civil servants — none of
whom had been paid since September. As a result, nobody received a full
salary.

The protests have been most prominent in Kurdish areas not dominated
by the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) — areas such as
Sulaimaniyah, where tents were erected in front of the local courthouse,
allowing people to participate in huge demonstrations. In other cities
such as Rania, Koya and Kifri — where the KDP is less popular than the
other ruling party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the
opposition to those ruling parties — hospitals and schools closed.

More significantly still, hundreds of protesters also hit the streets
in KDP-ruled towns like Erbil and Dahuk, undeterred by local
authorities refusing to grant them permits. Anti-government protests are
rare in KDP territory, where discontent is hardly ever expressed openly
for fear of retribution. But that fear didn't keep people from
protesting this time, and it's not expected to discourage them from
voting their minds in the May elections for a new Iraqi government.
Their impact is expected to be even greater during Kurdistan
parliamentary elections, currently scheduled for September.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Should the children of foreign IS fighters in Iraq and
Syria be allowed to return home? Security agencies are alarmed, but aid
workers say they're no danger if they get proper support. Judit Neurink
reports from Irbil.

Iraq’s last remaining synagogue was saved first from the
Islamic State and then from neglect and collapse. It is a success in a country
where national heritage is often destroyed or looted and widely viewed as primarily
a source of income.

Three months after its liberation, former IS fighters
remain a threat in Hawija. Judit Neurink, the first Western journalist
to visit the liberated town, reports on how locals are dealing with the
new threat.

In Kirkuk, the return of Iraqi rule has brought back Arabization,
with Kurds being threatened and evicted from their homes. At the same time,
Arab politicians are trying to reverse Kurdification and help Arabs return to their
destroyed villages.

Stay for the best result

Iraq gets under your skin. It is a country that is constantly changing. A place with a shortage of energy and water, but plenty of hospitality. Because of the many trauma's and scars, every step forward can be considered a victory. That is why it creeps under your skin - and you will stay, for the best result.

About me

I am a Dutch journalist working in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2008, a correspondent for Dutch and Belgian media (amongst others) and an author of 6 books, of which two have been translated into Kurdish. I set up the Independent Media Centre in Kurdistan which I lead till the end of 2012.